The rest of our London trip

Sorry that I haven't been able to post since my first London post.  A) We were super busy while we were in London, not getting back until 11pm, and leaving around 8 - most days.  and B)  I haven't had the chance since returning, either.

But now here it is, the rest of our London trip!

Here's what we did each day in London (excluding Day 1, which is on that other post)

Day 2:
-Woke up early to go to Portobello Road Market - I'd definitely recommend going, but be sure to get there by 8:30 or so, it gets super busy around 10:30/11

- Walked through Hyde Park
- Went to Kensington Palace
- Attempted to go to Westminster Abbey but it was closed for Remembrance Day ceremonies.
- Took a River Cruise to the Tower Bridge area
- Climbed The Monument (A monument to the Great Fire of 1666 that has 311 stairs to climb :-\ and then has a place at the top where you can take pictures)
- Tower Bridge Experience
- Dinner in Leicester Square
- Back to Hotel

Day 3:
- Tower of London
- London Bridge Experience & the London Tombs (super fun haunted house)
- Went to go see Harrods (it was closed though)
- Bowling
- Tour of Westminster (Houses of Parliament/Big Ben/London Eye) at night
- Back to Hotel

Day 4:
- St Paul's Cathedral
- Westminster Abbey
- Shopping in Harrods
- Hampton Court Palace
- Bus home at 5pm


So it was definitely a busy weekend! (Even if writing it out like that doesn't seem like it). 

Side note:  We got the London Pass (you pay for the pass - we paid 65 pounds-  and then you can go into a ton of places for "free".  I recommend getting it if you will go to a ton of the places.  Pretty much everywhere I went was included on the London Pass)

Pictures!

Day 2:

This is all Portobello Road market.  Its in Notting Hill.

The "entrance" to the market

Hyde Park

Birds!

I could never decide what type of bird this was :(  But he liked to pose for us.

Swans! (which by the way, are really really huge.  You can't even tell in this picture how huge swans are)

Kensington Palace (couldn't get a good shot of the front of it cause they had this weird fence up all around, you could only approach from the side)

Another shot of Kensington Palace and the gardens.  Kensington Palace was once a royal residence (like way before Buckingham Palace).  This is where Queen Victoria grew up, and where Princess Diana lived (along with a bunch of other royals).  It is also where Will & Kate are gonna live.

Near the entrance that we had to go in.

A chandelier in one of the rooms at Kensington Palace.  I took the picture in the Sepia color - just thought it looked cool :)

One of the rooms in the Palace

Another room

Big Ben!  I know theres other pictures but I loved the weather here

A statue on the corner of Westminster Bridge

One of the sides of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The "traditional" view of Westminster Abbey

One of the doors on the front of Westminster Abbey

The London Eye (from right in front of Big Ben)

Yay! Its me in front of Big Ben!  In line for the River Cruise

the dome of St Paul's from the River Cruise

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (a reconstruction) - only got to see it from the River Cruise

Tower of London

The Monument.  Yup, we climbed that.

Yeah... should have turned back here.  It was torturous! haha

View from The Monument.  This is kind of the opposite side of the "traditional" view of London.  It kind of reminded me of Albany a little bit.  At least more than anything else I've seen in the UK so far.

Tower Bridge

Close up of Tower Bridge

We then went to Tower Bridge but it was night time and most of my pictures didn't come out good enough for me to feel like posting them on my blog...

Day 3:

Outside of Tower of London (which actually has 20 towers, and is actually a fortress type thing)

See the "archer"?

I'm pretty sure its a Trebuchet (like a catapult)

Inside the Tower of London.

This is the spot (near enough to) that was the "private" execution spot - for nobility/royalty.  I believe it was either 6 or 7 people who were executed here, by beheading - including two of Henry VIII's ex-wives (Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard).  This was opposed to the public execution spot a little bit outside of the Tower of London where thousands of people could go see an execution - as a day of entertainment...

Haha, one of the guards.  I was afraid to get right in front of him to take his picture (see that thing near his hat?  Yeah thats a really sharp knife thing on the end of his gun (?) )

The building that used to be barracks but now houses the Crown Jewels - yes we totally saw these, but you can't take pictures :(

The White Tower - original part of the Tower of London.  Everything else was built to protect this. 

Where they keep the Ravens.  Theres an old legend that said if the ravens ever left the Tower of London, it would crumble and the monarchy would fall, so one of the Kings (I believe Charles II) made a royal decree that there always HAS to be ravens at the Tower of London.  So they keep some in cages.

View of Tower Bridge from the Tower of London (Tower Bridge is named after the Tower of London)

Outside of Tower of London as we're leaving :(  By the way, I highly recommend taking the tour with one of the Yeoman (Beefeaters).  While it doesn't take you EVERYWHERE, it was very informative, and our guy at least was quite funny.  And the tours are free.

Crossing Tower Bridge

View of the HMS Belfast from Tower Bridge.  Warship from WWII, you can go visit it (and its part of the London Pass), we just didn't get a chance :(

Tower Bridge again!

Harrods! 

Big Ben at night!  This one is in black and white cause I thought it looked cool

Big Ben at night, in color (or colour)

London Eye

Parliament and Big Ben from the other side of the Thames.

Day 4:

First glimpse (technically) of St Paul's Cathedral

The dome

Statue in front of St Paul's

Street near St Paul's (St Paul's is basically behind me)

Big Ben - again, I know.  I just couldn't get enough

Harrods.  Looks cooler at night, huh.  But at least this time we were able to go in.

Hampton Court Palace (this is about 30 miles from Big Ben and all that)

It was another royal residence.  William and Mary lived here.  And so did Henry VIII and all his peeps (not at the same time as William and Mary, of course)

A little crown on top of the light post!j

Henry VIII's Kitchens

Gardens.  Didn't get a chance to actually go out there, but got a coupe pictures from the windows.

And then we went home!!  Bus ride was from 5 - 2am (not the most fun bus ride) but once again, at least it was cheap.  I think it was maybe 17 pounds - but I could be wrong (we booked a long time ago).

If going to London, I recommend:
Knowing what you want to do ahead of time.
Looking into each place to see when it is open and if there are any special closings
Getting an Oyster Card (for the Underground).  Its quicker, and cheaper.  If you pay for a single ticket without the Oyster card, its 4 pounds.  If you have the oyster card, its 1.90.  Super easy, too.
Get a London Pass, if what you want to do lines up with what the Pass offers.  For me, the London Pass equalled to everything I HAD to do in London, and then let me do everything that I wanted to do, or thought might be fun.  It let us go bowling, gave a 5 pound credit to a souvenir shop, I got a free gift at Harrods for spending over 35 pounds.  Just, look into it. 

Thats my trip to London - whew!  Exhausting, but lots of fun.  Yay, London!